The Santa Clara Sporting 98B Black Team raised the most donations of any team ($2,814) in 2012. They presented the $30,000 check to Michele Van Zuiden from El Camino Hospital. Santa Clara Mayor Jamie Matthews and Molly Crawford 2013 Miss Santa Clara also attended the festivities.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Santa Clara Sporting Soccer Club Donated $30,000 to El Camino Hospital from their Annual Goals For A Cure Campaign to Fight Breast Cancer

Santa Clara, Calif. (March 25, 2012) – The Santa Clara Sporting Soccer Club, hosted a special ceremony on Saturday, March 23, to honor the young men and women who competed in the 2012 Goals for Cure Fundraiser and present El Camino Hospital Foundation with a check for $30,000, which will help provide free mammograms to women in need. Special guest, Jamie L. Matthews, mayor of Santa Clara, and Molly Crawford, 2013 Miss Santa Clara both attended the ceremony to congratulate the soccer players and the Santa Clara Sporting Soccer Club.

“Breast cancer has touched many families in the Santa Clara Sporting Soccer Club and we wanted to find a way to raise awareness and help our Northern California soccer family and our local community,” said Sebastian Goncalves, president of the Santa Clara Sporting Club. “I am proud of the dedication these players have shown in helping the cause and doing their part to help fight this terrible disease for women and men.”

Thirty-six teams competed in the Club’s 5th annual Goals for a Cure soccer campaign last October. Teams competed in their pink Goals for a Cure jerseys and collected donations through many creative fund-raising efforts and a month-long “goal-a-thon” where supporters made a donation for every goal scored by all Santa Clara Sporting teams.

To thank them for their hard work and incredible efforts, El Camino Hospital invited the players from the Santa Clara Sporting ‘98 boys Black Team, who raised the most money last year to tour the hospital’s Imaging Services and meet with the staff who diagnose and treat breast cancer patients. Also joining the group was Hayley Talia, who raised more than $1,159 dollars by herself. The players toured the center and saw firsthand what their hard work was benefitting. A video of the tour can be seen here.

“We are excited to welcome some of the Santa Clara Sporting Soccer Club’s hardest working soccer players who have helped us spread breast cancer awareness and show them how their donations are aiding our initiatives of early breast cancer detection and treatment,” said Lea Morgan, from El Camino Hospital Foundation. “El Camino Hospital is extremely grateful to all of the Santa Clara Sporting Soccer Club teams who participated in Goals for a Cure.”

Goals for a Cure was founded in 2008 by Kevin and Jason Azevedo after two soccer moms on the Santa Clara Sporting ‘93 boys team were diagnosed with breast cancer, one of whom subsequently passed from the disease. In five years, the Santa Clara Sporting Soccer Clubs have raised more than $128,000, helping to provide hundreds of women with free mammograms, 48 of whom were detected to have breast cancer and started treatment.

Press and media can find Goals for a Cure photos and videos in their Dropbox folder.

About Santa Clara Sporting Soccer Club
Santa Clara Sporting Soccer Club is a high-level competitive amateur and youth soccer club in Silicon Valley. The club is one of the oldest and most successful competitive youth soccer organizations in the United States. Santa Clara Sporting was founded in 1971, and now has more than 600 boys and girls youth players on 36 teams; many graduate to compete in NCAA collegiate programs and at the professional level. Santa Clara Sporting is affiliated with the Santa Clara Youth Soccer League.

About El Camino Hospital Foundation
El Camino Hospital Foundation, in partnership with patients, physicians, employees, community leaders and philanthropists, raises money to help El Camino Hospital in Mountain View and El Camino Hospital Los Gatos best meet the health needs of the communities they serve. These funds enable the hospital to offer state-of-the-art care to its patients while underwriting its efforts to provide health services to the economically disadvantaged. The philanthropic partnership enhances the hospital’s ability to create a compelling work environment for physicians and staff and offers fulfilling opportunities to donors and volunteers. More information is available at www.elcaminohospital.org